


Mistletoe and Peppermint

by ItalianRampallian (Anglo_Salad)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, M/M, Multi, Not that Adrien will ever admit it, Oblivious Adrien Agreste, Sexual thoughts, Sub Adrien Agreste, Switch Marinette Dupain-Cheng, i think, shippy ship ship, they're like seventeen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2019-10-07 23:13:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17375006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anglo_Salad/pseuds/ItalianRampallian
Summary: "Hey, Alya? What do you think Marinette would like for Christmas?"“Well, Adrien, I think what Marinette would really like is a kiss.”With a resolute nod, Adrien walked out of the building, focused on finding the answer to an important question:Who is worthy to kiss Marinette Dupain-Cheng?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WELCOME TO MY FIRST FLUFF
> 
> To use a phrase from when I started reading fanfiction, this story will be a bit lemony.  
> It's a slightly citrus-flavored fluff.
> 
> Just so you know.

It started when Alya suggested that they have a ‘Friendsmas,’ and Adrien, naturally, had no idea what that word meant.

“Dude,” Nino laughed, “Context clues. It’s a Christmas, with friends.”

“Oh. So we’d spend Christmas together?” It’d been years since Adrien had had a real Christmas, and he smiled at the idea of spending it with his friends.

That smile, however, was quickly killed by Alya.

“As much as I would love to do it on Christmas-Christmas, my family usually spends the holiday in Orléans with my grandparents. What about Christmas Eve?”

Adrien groaned. “My father acts as an Extraordinary Minister at Notre-Dame for the masses on Christmas Eve, and they’re short one this year, so he volunteered me.”

“Don’t you have to be practicing to do that?” Nino teased, smiling so wide that his eyes squinted behind his glasses.

“As far as my dad and the Bishop know, I am a confirmed and practicing Catholic.”

“Whoa,” Alya started, concerned, “You know I think organized religion is a scheme to make money and legitimize discrimination and all that, but isn’t pretending to be Catholic to work at a service, I don’t know, disrespectful? What would Mama Lahiffe think?”

“Mama and her siblings all go to mass together on Christmas Day, Alya, it won’t be a problem.”

“Not my point, Nino, and you know it.”

  
“It’s not like I have much choice, though. My dad already volunteered me, and if I say no-” Adrien winced. In the past few years, his father’s temper had gotten shorter and shorter.

“Christmas Adam, then.” Marinette said in an uplifting tone, “We can meet up on Christmas Adam.”

“What’s Christmas Adam?”

“Oh, um, that’s what Alya and I call December 23rd!”

  
“Why?”

At that, Marinette turned very red, so Alya, chuckling, took over.

“Because, it comes before Christmas Eve and is generally unsatisfying.”

Nino laughed at that, but Adrien still looked confused.   
“What’s so funny about a bible reference?”

Alya sighed.

-

After Nino had left the library to go to a gig, and Marinette had gone home to help her parents close up the bakery for the night, Adrien and Alya were left packing up their books.

Just as he was about to leave the table and join the Gorilla to go home, a thought struck him.

“Hey, Alya?” The girl looked up at him questioningly, and he continued, “What do you think Marinette would like for Christmas?”

Alya broke out into a large, almost devious smile. “Well, Adrien, I think what Marinette would really like is a kiss.”

“Really?” He looked confused, disbelieving, “You really think Marinette would like that?”  
“Well, yeah. She’s only been wanting one for a few years now.”

Adrien nodded. _Sounds weird, but-_  “Okay. If that’s what she wants.”

With a resolute nod, Adrien walked out of the building, focused on finding the answer to an important question.

_Who is worthy to kiss Marinette Dupain-Cheng?_

-

When Marinette came to school the next day in a new outfit she had designed, as she often did, Adrien knew who was **not** worthy.

Namely, one Lê Chiẽn Kim.

Kim was a nice guy most of the time, though competitive. Occasionally, in trying to impress Chloe, he had said some things that he seemed to regret almost immediately, though he had never apologize for them.

But now, with Marinette in a black polka-dotted swing dress with a skirt just a bit too short in the back for Adrien’s comfort- _Ladybug, forgive me-_ Kim’s eyes were noticeably glued to Marinette’s backside.

It wasn’t the fact that he was staring. The whole class was staring. Marinette, with her hair curled and lips painted red, looked like an American wartime pinup. But the way Kim’s eyes were fixed on the swell of Marinette’s behind in her skirt made something unpleasant curl in Adrien’s stomach.

He told himself it was friendly care that made him so angry. No girl should be objectified like that, after all.

As Madame Bustier walked into the classroom and everyone made their way to their seats, Adrien shook such feelings from his head.

And if the thought of Marinette’s red-lipped smile occupied some part of his thoughts throughout the day, he was just happy to see her so proud of herself.


	2. Chapter 2

_ It has to be someone who truly appreciates her,  _ he decided,  _ not just her looks. _

Marinette was beautiful, true, anyone with eyes could see that, but she was so much more than that. Marinette was kind and brave and intelligent. (A funny feeling in his chest that he decided was friendly pride rose as he thought of her standing up to Chloe.) 

So he went to the only person he could think of who he knew had seen those very traits at their first glance.

_ Luka Couffaine. _

Adrien knew from Alya that Luka had been appreciative of Marinette from the very beginning, and he had known from the day he saw them together at the skating rink that the feelings were mutual.

(And that hadn’t bothered him, not one bit.)

Now, sat on a piano bench in the studio where Luka gave music lessons, Adrien could see why.

Luka’s blue-green eyes were warm and welcoming as he sat across from him, setting his guitar to the side.

“Adrien, good to see you. How’s Marinette?”

“Oh. She’s doing well, I guess. That’s actually why I came…”

“Trouble in Paradise?”

Adrien blinked. “What?”

“You and Marinette? Are you having some sort of fight?”

“No, Marinette and I are fine, but- We’re just friends.”

It was Luka’s turn to blink incredulously. “Just friends?”  
“Well, yeah.” And with that, he explained what he had come for. Luka listened intently, an incredulous look crossing his romanesque features, and then-

“No. No way. I like Marinette, always have, but I can’t do that to her.” He stood. “I have another lesson soon, you should leave.”   
As Adrien stood to leave, Luka grabbed him by the shoulder with a cryptic smile. 

“You have nice eyes, you know? If you and Marinette ever figure things out and want to bring in a third, you know where to find me.”

Adrien left quickly.

When he realized he was blushing, he told himself it was from embarrassment.

-

It was approximately ten at night when the thought occurred.

He had spent most of the afternoon and night resolutely  **not** thinking about Marinette and Luka. He didn’t have time to dissect the lump in his throat or the tugging feeling in his stomach.

So instead, he focused on finding someone for Marinette to kiss.

_ Someone as smart as her, and as brave.  _

It was almost time for patrol.

“Plagg, claws out!”

_ Someone kind. _

He made his way through Paris, Marinette weighing heavily on his mind.

_ Someone like-  _

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug’s voice startled him, nearly knocking him off the ledge he sat on. He tried to play it off, standing to take her hand.

“My Lady.” She pulled away before he could kiss-

Wait.

“Ladybug!”

She stopped, concerned. “Yes, Chat, that’s me.”

“You’re the one I’ve been looking for!”  
Blue eyes rolled. “Oh, Kitty, you’ve had better pick-up lines.”

He paused. She wasn’t wrong, he had had some pretty good pickup lines, but-  
“That’s not what I meant! I need to borrow a kiss!” _Activating_ ~~ _Puppy_~~ _Kitten Eyes._

“Chat Noir, you’re very cute, but you know there’s someone else.”

_ Yeah, thanks for reminding me.  _ “No, not for me. My friend. For Christmas”

“What, a fan?” Her face scrunched in some unreadable emotion.

“Well, actually, more of a Chat Noir fan, according to her, but that’s not the problem. See, she wants a kiss for Christmas, and you’re the only person good enough for her.”

Ladybug’s face relaxed, then she sighed.

“Chat, I can’t kiss your friend, that’s weird. But it sounds like you really care about her, and if she told you she wants a kiss for Christmas, she probably wants one from you.” The bells of Notre-Dame chimed ten in the distance, and she sighed again. “I need to go home.”

He nodded, quiet as she left. 

_ Marinette wants a kiss from me? _


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH DUDE HERE COMES THE ADULT CONTENT

Late that night, with Plagg curled up and sleeping somewhere on a shelf in Adrien’s library, Adrien’s mind still wandered.

As did his hands.

It had started out innocently enough, thinking about the sudden revelation that  **Marinette Dupain-Cheng** might want to kiss  **him.**

And then came the thought of her bright red lipstick, and then all the places she could leave some of that lipstick, and-

_ Whoa, Adrien. Just a few hours ago, you were going to have her kiss your partner. _

And then there was the idea of her kissing Ladybug, which caused more than a few… … stirrings.

He was a teenager, surely no one could blame him for his bodily reactions.

Which was how Adrien found himself there, masturbating to the thought of one of his best friends.

And his partner.

Together.

(Adrien knew Ladybug was bisexual like he knew the Seine was cold. The fact that he hadn’t experienced it didn’t make it untrue.  
Marinette, on the other hand, he wasn’t sure about. She and Alya were so close it was hard to tell where her boundaries lied.)

In his mind’s eye, it started simply. Marinette, in that polka-dotted dress, red-lipped and hair curled. Ladybug, in all her usual glory.

_ Ladybug initiated the kiss, naturally, chaste at first, but quickly deepening. And Marinette- shy, sweet Marinette- made a noise that went straight to his groin and blushed tomato red. _

His pulse quickened, matched by the pace of his hand.

_ Now Ladybug’s lips were stained red, as well, and she left pink stains on Marinette’s porcelain skin as she kissed down her neck. She bit down, and Marinette made a noise that was absolutely unholy. _

Oh, but it did heavenly things to him.

He came, splattering onto his hand and lower stomach, and the world went out of focus for a moment.

When everything came back to itself, and Adrien had finished cleaning himself up, he had one thought.

_ I’m going to Hell. _

-

The next day, Adrien couldn’t look Marinette in the eye. 

He tried exactly once, but the intensity in the way she looked at him- the trust and admiration in her eyes- filled him with shame.

So he kept his eyes to the table.

“Hey, Adrien, are you okay?”  _ Shitshitshit.   _ “You look sad.”

Of course she would notice.

“Oh, um, I have a bad headache, is all, they kind of ruin my mood.”

Marinette frowned, and dug through her bag, smiling triumphantly as she pulled out a small bottle of pills. He caught it when she tossed it to him. 

“That should help.”

Nino frowned. “Midol? Isn’t that for, you know, lady problems?” 

Alya’s glare made him instantly regret the question.

“Midol is tylenol and caffeine, it’s not gonna hurt your dick. Take it, Adrien.”

Adrien dutifully swallowed one with a swig from his bottled water.

“Thanks, Marinette.”

“No problem, Adrien, you know I would bend over backwards for you.”  
There was a moment of silence as Marinette and Adrien both turned vivid shades of red.

And then the stammering began.

“I mean, like-”

“Oh, well, I mean-”

“Like, I just care about you-”

“Thanks, you’re very kind-”

“Oh I gotta-”

“-Go.”

And with that, they both bolted in opposite directions, leaving a very confused Alya and Nino in their wake.

“What the hell just happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Adrien, we're all going to hell, might as well take the highway


	4. Chapter 4

While Alya followed Marinette, as was protocol in such situations, Nino was left with nothing to do but follow Adrien.

Adrien, of course, was long gone, so Nino had plenty of time to wonder what the fuck had just happened. Marinette blushing and stuttering was par for the course (though she had gotten better in recent months), but Adrien? Never.

And then Nino entered the restroom. And Adrien was whisper-screaming at someone.

“Would you stop? Calm down! Jesus Christ, this is Marinette we’re talking about!”

Nino was intrigued. He silently approached the stall Adrien’s voice was coming from, taking small steps as Adrien continued rambling.

“Marinette is my friend, a good friend, and I will not have you ruining that! She’s not even into me!”

Nino couldn’t help snorting.

(Well, maybe he could, but this was getting pathetic.)

The room went still and silent, until Adrien’s shaky voice rang out.

“Hello?”

  
“Adrien, dude, it’s just me.”

  
Adrien sighed audibly. “Oh, hey, Nino. How much of that did you hear?”

“You mean the part where you were screaming at someone? Or the part where you think Marinette isn’t into you?”

“...That much, huh?”

It was Nino’s turn to sigh. “Dude, would you please come out? I can’t talk to you through a door, it’s weird.”

  
“Nope. Can’t do that.”

He eyed the gap between the door and the floor.

“You come out or I’m coming in.”

Adrien sighed again, unlocking the door. 

“Okay, just- Don’t laugh.”

“Why would I-  **Oh.** ”

Right there, very apparent in Adrien’s tight jeans, was an erection.

Adrien had been yelling at his own boner.

“Dude, is there something you want to tell me?”  
A pause.

“...I think I might be into Marinette.”

-

Sitting in Nino’s room, wearing an oversized hoodie Nino had thrown at him, Adrien should have felt more comfortable than he did.

Then again, Nino staring intently at him from across the room was not very comforting. 

“Nino, you’re scaring me.”

“Sorry, I’m just waiting for you to tell me how you’re going to seduce Marinette.”

“How I’m going to  **what** ?”

Nino shook his head. “You’re into her, right? You have to earn her affections.”

Adrien considered it. Marinette was pretty great, and he couldn’t deny his attraction to her, considering the situation.

_ But what about Ladybug? _

As if reading his mind, Nino groaned.

“Dude, you can’t still be hung up on your crush on Ladybug. She’s a superhero, you don’t even know her real name! Marinette is real, and obtainable. Plus,” he chuckled, “Mari’s the only other person in our class with a fan club.”

“Obtainable? Nino, she’s the farthest thing from interested in me-”

  
“She’s had a crush on you since we were thirteen!”

Adrien froze. 

“Marinette has a what now?”

-

“Ladybug?”

“Yes, Chat?”

“I think we need to talk.”

She turned to him, eyes wide with concern. 

  
“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything’s fine, I just-” He sighed. “You remember my friend?”

  
“The one you wanted me to kiss? How could I forget?”

“Right. Well, first of all, I realize now that that was pretty stupid.”

“Could have been worse, I guess.”

“Look, Ladybug, you know how I feel about you, and that’s not changing, but-”

“-You’re gonna kiss her.”

  
“Not yet.”

“Hm?”

  
“I really like this girl, I want to earn her kiss.”

  
“Oh.”

“I’m going to court her.”

There was silence, before Ladybug burst into laughter.

“Chat Noir, did you just call it ‘courting?’”

Chat smiled sheepishly at her, and she grinned back. 

“I’m happy for you, Chaton. You deserve someone great.”


	5. Chapter 5

Christmas Adam came too quickly for Adrien’s liking.

On the bright side, he finally got the joke. 

He’d bought gifts for everyone a few days earlier (thank god for Amazon Prime), and he’d wrapped everything in green striped paper: three CD’s by obscure rappers for Nino, a ‘for fox sake’ coffee mug for Alya, and for Marinette, a rose gold, drop chain necklace with a single pearl.

Then, after receiving Alya’s text ordering everyone to wear pyjamas, he’d spent twenty minutes picking the perfect outfit. The grey sweatpants he’d modeled undershirts with last week were out, he’d seen enough Instagram posts to know how revealing those could be in certain situations. That oversized pair of black sweatpants he’d gotten to rebel against his father’s strict fashion rules? Perfect.

An emerald t-shirt paired with said sweatpants made for a comfortable ensemble, and he enjoyed the thought that he looked less like a model and more like an everyday teenager.

Upon arriving at Alya’s house, he was greeted by Nino, dressed in elf pyjamas and a mistletoe hat, and Alya, in red pyjamas and a santa hat.

And a large glass of champagne.

_ God help us all. _

“Adrien!”

At Marinette’s voice, he turned to search the room for her, and-

_ God help  _ **_me_ ** _. _

There, lounging on Alya’s couch, was Marinette. 

In a Chat Noir onesie.

-

An hour later found everyone in Alya’s kitchen, Adrien and Marinette talking passionately about Paris Men’s Fashion Week while Alya poured herself more champagne and Nino sliced the yule log Marinette’s parents had provided.

“I’m just so excited for Charles Jeffrey, I love his use of color in the Loverboy line.”

Adrien snorted. “You mean his kindergarten art? It’s unique, alright.”

“Well, he also breaks down gender barriers, which is pretty cool.”

“Yeah, it’s great, except he cares more about his designs than the humans wearing them. They’re itchy and don’t breathe, he’s an intolerable ass, and have you seen the makeup he puts us in?”

As they argued, Nino watched intently. Getting Alya’s attention with a wave of his hand, he took the hat off of his head. He weighed it in his hand for a moment, then took aim. With a whispered, ‘yeet,’ he threw it across the room.

It landed directly on Marinette’s head.

Marinette and Adrien both stood stock-still, eyes locked on the dangling piece of synthetic mistletoe, before Ayla broke the silence.

She shoved Adrien out of the way with a grin.

“Free babe kisses, count me in!”

After an exchange of cheek kisses, Marinette reached out a hand to help Adrien up from where he sat, rather shocked, on the floor. With her help, he made it to his feet.

Standing directly under Marinette’s mistletoe.

“Oooh,” Alya grinned, “Adrien, you gotta do it now.”

Adrien’s mind raced. He didn’t want his first kiss with Marinette to be some gimmick. But he didn’t want her to think he was uninterested.

_ What do I do, what do I do? _

Meanwhile, Marinette had already taken a deep breath and a gulp of champagne from Alya’s glass, and, after another steadying breath-

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was kissing Adrien Agreste. On the mouth. 

He wasn’t sure if it was the feeling of sparks or leftover bubbles, but something about Marinette’s lips against his was magical.

(One of his ancestors had referred to champagne as 'tasting the stars.' Every starlight wish he'd made in the past month must have danced across Marinette's tongue.)

When Marinette broke off the (rather long, though chaste) kiss, they both grinned through their blush.

“Wow.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Alya, she singlehandedly moves this plot along


	6. Truth Somewhere in Your Eyes

Two important things happened after The Kiss.

First, Nino tried his best to slip his inebriated girlfriend a twenty-euro note. Between the two of them, they managed to drop it four times before it reached Alya’s pocket.

Second, the clock hung outside of the kitchen struck ten, and Alya giggled.

(Privately, Nino marveled at the fact that Alya was this sloshed this early.)

“ _Presents!_ ” She called out, walking toward the living room with a newly refilled glass of champagne in hand.

“We’re gonna have to cut her off at some point…”

“Try it and you die, Agreste.”

-

It was after presents (and after Alya’s drunken crowing about how Adrien had gotten Marinette a _pearl necklace)_ that Nino, now wrapped in the oversized turtle hoodie Marinette had made for him, asked a very important question.

A question so important, in fact, that Adrien stopped admiring the blue hat and glove set Marinette had gifted him (the yarn they were made from looked home-dyed and far too irregular to not have been homespun, but was somehow familiar) to stare wide-eyed at his friend.

“So are you two going to, like, date, now?”

_Oh._

**_Shit._ **

Sure, Adrien had thought about Marinette in that way- _in many ways-_ but to be faced with that possibility was something terrifying. Marinette was one of the most important friends he had, and he didn’t want to risk that.

But that kiss. If he and Marinette were dating, he could repeat that kiss. Multiple times. And, beyond his fear of abandonment, he knew Marinette wouldn’t just stop talking to him if things didn’t work out.

_Right?_

Marinette spoke first, surprisingly calm given the situation.

“Well, I- That is, if Adrien wanted to- I wouldn’t be adverse.” She winced as soon as the words left her mouth, as if they hadn’t been polite and considerate and-

“But I’m sure it was just a mistletoe kiss, it doesn’t mean anything.”

_Oh._

**_No._ **

“Well, I wouldn’t say it meant nothing, not to me.”  
Marinette paused. Reddened. She opened her mouth to speak, and-

“AKUMA!’

_Well, fuck._

-

“I AM JINGLE HELL. MERRY FUCKING CHRISTMAS!”

Chat Noir met Ladybug on a rooftop not far from Alya’s.

“These akuma are getting more and more vio-” He cut himself off. Was Ladybug _blushing?_ “My Lady?”

“Don’t ask, Chat. This akuma, he turns piles of snow into fire and lava. His akumatized item is his set of sleigh bells. Let’s go.”  
And with that, she swung away, leaving a confused Chat Noir in her wake.

-

The akuma was quickly defeated, though not without a few burns on Chat’s part. However, as always, while Miraculous Ladybug healed the outward damage, the pain lingered.

So when Adrien emerged from Alya’s bathroom to rejoin the party, he was tired, confused, frustrated, and in pain.

All of that faded when Marinette tripped into his arms during her worried scurry in his direction.

He looked down at her: face red, hood askew, her blue eyes wide and unblinking.

“Marinette?”  
“Uh huh.”

“Can I kiss you again?”  
“Uh huh.”  
And so he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what I'm doing anymore


End file.
